World Olive Oil Competition 2026 Live Updates

Feb. 12 12:03 UTC

Paolo DeAndreis report­ing from Rome

As the win­ners are announced at the 2026 World Olive Oil Competition, each award appears in real time on the Official Guide’s inter­ac­tive world map. Every day, new shin­ing Gold and Silver awards light up the globe.

The map reveals the global reach of excep­tional olive oil pro­duc­tion, high­light­ing the work of hun­dreds of pro­duc­ers who con­tin­u­ally refine their agri­cul­tural prac­tices and invest in inno­va­tion, rais­ing the qual­ity and rep­u­ta­tion of their prod­ucts year after year.

NYIOOC Live Map

Feb. 10, 13:58 UTC

Nedjeljko Jusup report­ing from Zadar

Croatian pro­duc­ers have surged to an early lead at the NYIOOC World Olive Oil Competition, col­lect­ing 17 awards in the first round of 2026 results, includ­ing 15 Gold Awards and two Silvers.

“We’re first,” said Ante Vulin, an olive grower from Pakoštane, as Croatia topped the early leader­board among north­ern hemi­sphere coun­tries. Italy fol­lowed with 14 awards (13 Golds and one Silver), while the United States ranked third with 12 awards (six Golds and six Silvers). Spain placed fourth with six awards, fol­lowed by Greece, Lebanon, Portugal, France, Turkey and Tunisia.

Producers from Pakoštane accounted for a large share of Croatia’s early suc­cess. Vulin earned another Gold for his extra vir­gin olive oil brand Antino, mark­ing his fifth con­sec­u­tive year win­ning Gold in New York. He and his fam­ily cul­ti­vate about 1,100 olive trees, with roughly 550 in full pro­duc­tion.

A notable theme in the early results has been the con­tin­ued loy­alty of many Pakoštane grow­ers to tra­di­tional cul­ti­vars, par­tic­u­larly Oblica, an indige­nous Dalmatian vari­ety.

Alongside Vulin, Gold Awards for Oblica oils went to Tomislav Čudina (OPG Celini) and Sebastijan Adžić (Leut Group). Adžić, a Croatian war vet­eran who lost a leg, said he has con­tin­ued to work per­sis­tently as both a restau­ra­teur and olive grower. ​“It’s started well — we just need to keep it going,” he said.

Ante Lokin also earned Gold for Ćaće Moga, a mono­va­ri­etal Oblica extra vir­gin olive oil.

Vinko Lalin main­tained a role for Oblica in his Dalma Premium blend, com­bin­ing it with the local Levantinka vari­ety and the intro­duced Picholine and Pendolino. ​“Even though we grafted part of the grove over to other vari­eties, from a total of 450 trees we pro­duced 2,000 liters of oil,” he said, adding that he was sat­is­fied with this year’s yield.

Slavo Stojanov of OPG Didini dvori – Agroturizam Plavica won a Silver Award with oils made from Oblica and Plavica. ​“This time we won Silver, but sil­ver shines too,” he said.

Several pro­duc­ers empha­sized pride in their prod­ucts and the con­nec­tion between place and qual­ity in the olive-grow­ing com­mu­nity, located on Croatia’s Adriatic coast near Lake Vrana, the country’s largest lake.

Beyond Dalmatia, Croatia’s early haul also included awards for pro­duc­ers in Istria. Avistria, which cul­ti­vates about 4,800 olive trees near Sveti Lovreč, earned recog­ni­tion again this year. The com­pany is owned by Beatrix and Rudolf Nemetsche, an Austrian cou­ple.

OPG Rajne i Sinovi from Stankovci received a Gold Award for Dalmatinski Robustnjak, described as an organic extra vir­gin olive oil pro­duced under strict eco­log­i­cal stan­dards.

Istrian pro­duc­ers have also begun appear­ing on the win­ners’ list. ​“Istria won’t lag behind Dalmatia,” said Saša Petković, the pro­ducer behind the Bilini brand.

With just 8 per­cent of the 2026 com­pe­ti­tion results released so far, accord­ing to the Olive Oil Times World Ranking, Croatian pro­duc­ers said they hope to remain near the top of the stand­ings. Last year, Croatia fin­ished sec­ond over­all with 125 awards, becom­ing run­ner-up at the world’s largest olive oil qual­ity com­pe­ti­tion.

Feb. 6, 2026 17:00 UTC

Ylenia Granitto report­ing from Rome

As the first week of results draws to a close, sev­eral blends made their entry in the Official Guide.

Three Croatian blends – Olea Magica by OPG Olea Magica, Dalma Premium by OPG Lalin, and Leut by Leut Groupa – earned Gold Awards, along with two from Italy – Olio Fonte della Pace by Fontanaro Estate and Vipiano by Giancarlo Giannini, and Spain’s Oro Del Desierto Organic Coupage by Rafael Alonso Aguilera.

The per­cent­age of blends awarded over four­teen edi­tions of the NYIOOC amounts to 44 per­cent of all win­ning oils.

A blend is obtained by com­bin­ing two or more olive vari­eties in vary­ing pro­por­tions. It may result from a field blend­ing or from mix­ing oil in the mill after each vari­ety has been milled sep­a­rately. Some blends are crafted accord­ing to the nat­ural vari­etal com­po­si­tion of grove, while oth­ers are care­fully stud­ied and cus­tomized to obtain a spe­cific sen­sory pro­file.

Feb. 4, 2026 16:53 UTC

Ylenia Granitto report­ing from Rome

In the first few days of results, the 2026 NYIOOC has already awarded six Coratina mono­va­ri­etals. Among them are Dedolio Coratina by Dedolio and Parco delle Lamie by Fratelli Fiore, both earn­ing their sec­ond Gold Award.

Each year, the con­sis­tent pres­ence of this vari­ety in the Official Guide reflects its broad dif­fu­sion. Named for the Apulian town of Corato, Coratina is cul­ti­vated not only in its area of ori­gin but also across many regions world­wide, thanks to its adapt­abil­ity to dif­fer­ent grow­ing con­di­tions. From an agro­nomic per­spec­tive, the tree is known for good pro­duc­tiv­ity, while the fruit typ­i­cally shows late and stag­gered ripen­ing.

With its high polyphe­nol con­tent, Coratina extra vir­gin olive oil is prized for a dis­tinc­tive sen­sory pro­file, often marked by medium to intense fruiti­ness and notes of almond and freshly cut grass.

Feb. 3, 2026 23:12 UTC

OOT Staff report­ing from New York

As the first 2026 NYIOOC results appear, they do so in a year when many pro­duc­ers say qual­ity held firm even as pro­duc­tion remained uneven.

In the annual Olive Oil Times Harvest Survey, respon­dents described a 2025 cam­paign shaped by extremes: excel­lent fruit health and stand­out oils in many groves, but incon­sis­tent yields under the com­bined pres­sure of heat, volatile weather, higher costs and uncer­tain mar­kets.

Producers rated the sea­son 67 out of 100 in the poll, a mid­dling score that reflected a split real­ity — some regions rebounded from an ​“off” year, while oth­ers slipped into one, under­scor­ing how local cli­mate pat­terns and alter­nate-bear­ing cycles con­tinue to dic­tate out­comes.

Feb. 2, 2026 21:55 UTC

OOT Staff report­ing from New York

Oro Del Desierto Organic Coupage was the most awarded extra vir­gin olive oil brand going into the 14^th edi­tion of the NYIOOC, and pro­ducer Rafael Alonso Aguilera has assured it stays that way, with another Gold Award revealed on the very first day of results.

The organic blend from Tabernas, Spain leads more than 1,700 brands from 38 coun­tries in the Olive Oil Times World Ranking — a tes­ta­ment to the fam­ily com­pa­ny’s out­stand­ing con­sis­tency. There will be more cov­er­age of their achieve­ment in the days ahead.

Feb. 2, 2026 21:43 UTC

OOT Staff report­ing from New York

After the first day of results, 11 brands from Italy, Greece, Spain, Lebanon and Montenegro are listed in the Official Guide and Olive Oil Times World Ranking. The NYIOOC ana­lyzes entries in the order they are received through­out the judg­ing period, giv­ing these first win­ners a head start in the mar­ket­place. NYIOOC orga­niz­ers noted that the first results were released a month ear­lier than last year’s March 3^rd start.

Feb 2, 2026 00:35 UTC

OOT Staff report­ing from New York

Frantoio Muraglia, a fifth-gen­er­a­tion pro­ducer from Andria in south­ern Italy, earned Gold Awards for its Essenza Fruttato Intenso, Gran Cru Tenuta Macchia di Rose and Denocciolato olive oils. The Muraglia fam­ily has cul­ti­vated olives in Puglia for more than 160 years, pair­ing tra­di­tion with inno­va­tion aimed at improv­ing qual­ity and sus­tain­abil­ity. Managing direc­tor Savino Muraglia said the company’s agro­nomic prac­tices focus on bio­di­ver­sity and car­bon reduc­tion, not­ing that sus­tain­abil­ity is ​“a life choice” rooted in what farm­ers do in the coun­try­side rather than what appears on a label.

This is a devel­op­ing story. Check back for updates. (Updated Feb. 12, 2026 12:04)

More updates

Continuous cov­er­age of the 2026 NYIOOC World Olive Oil Competition

• 2026 World Olive Oil Competition cov­er­age on OOT
• NYIOOC 2026 Live Updates
• Official Guide to the World’s Best Olive Oils
• World Olive Oil Rankings
• NYIOOC Help Center and Press Room
• NIOOC Marketplace